2020年考研英语二阅读 Text 2 原文翻译及答案解析

It is true that CEO pay has gone up-top ones may make 300 times the pay of typical workers on average, and since the mid-1970s, CEO pay for large publicly traded American corporations has, by varying estimates, gone up by about 500%. The typical CEO of a top American corporation now makes about $18.9 million a year.

确实，首席执行官的薪酬已经上涨——顶级高管的薪酬平均可能是普通工人的300倍，自20世纪70年代中期以来，大型公开交易的美国公司的首席执行官薪酬，根据各种估计，上涨了约500%。如今，一家顶级美国公司的典型首席执行官年薪约1890万美元。

The best model for understanding the growth of CEO pay is that of limited CEO talent in a world where business opportunities for the top firms are growing rapidly. The efforts of America' s highest-earning 1% have been one of the more dynamic elements of the global economy. It's not popular to say. but one reason their pay has gone up so much is that CEOs really have upped their game relative to many other

理解首席执行官薪酬增长的最佳模型是，在一个顶级公司商业机会快速增长的有限人才世界中。美国收入最高的1%人群的努力一直是全球经济中更具活力的元素之一。这说法不受欢迎，但他们的薪酬上涨如此之多的一个原因是，首席执行官们相对于许多其他

workers in the U.S. economy.

美国经济中的工人。

Today' s CEO, at least for major American firms, must have many mere skills than simply being able to "run the company." CEOs must have a good sense of financial markets and maybe even how the company should trade in them . They also need better public relations skills than their predecessors, as the costs of even a minor slipup can be significant. Then there's the fact that large American companies are much more globalized than ever before, with supply chains spread across a larger number of countries. To lead in that system requires knowled ge that is fairly mind-boggling. Plus, virtually all major American companies are becoming tech companies, one way or another. Beyond this, major CEOs still have to do all the day-to-day work they have always done.

今天的首席执行官，至少对于美国主要公司来说，必须具备许多仅仅能够“运营公司”之外的技能。首席执行官必须对金融市场有很好的理解，甚至可能包括公司应如何在其中交易。他们还需要比前任更好的公共关系技能，因为即使是轻微的失误成本也可能很高。此外，大型美国公司比以往任何时候都更加全球化，供应链遍布更多国家。要在这个系统中领导，需要相当令人难以置信的知识。另外，几乎所有主要美国公司都在以这样或那样的方式成为科技公司。除此之外，主要首席执行官仍然必须完成他们一直以来所做的所有日常工作。

The common idea that high CEO pay is mainly about ripping people off doesn't explain history very well. By most measures, corporate governance has become a lot tighter and more rigorous since the 1970s. Yet it is principally during this period of stronger governance that CEO pay has been high and rising. That suggests it is in the broader corporate interest to recruit top candidates for increasingly tough jobs.

认为高首席执行官薪酬主要是为了剥削人们的普遍想法并不能很好地解释历史。大多数标准下，自20世纪70年代以来，公司治理变得更加严格和严谨。然而，正是在这个治理更强的时期，首席执行官薪酬一直很高并在上涨。这表明，为日益艰巨的工作招聘顶级候选人符合更广泛的公司利益。

Furthermore, the highest CEO salaries are paid to outside candidates, not to the cozy insider picks, another sign that high CEO pay is not some kind of depredation at the expense of the rest of the company. And the stock market reacts positively when companies tie CEO pay to, say, stock prices, a sign that those practices build up corporate value not just for the CEO.

此外，最高的首席执行官薪酬支付给外部候选人，而不是内部人选，这进一步表明高首席执行官薪酬并非以牺牲公司其他部分为代价的某种掠夺。而且，当公司将首席执行官薪酬与股票价格等因素挂钩时，股市会积极反应，这表明这些做法不仅为首席执行官，也为整个公司提升了企业价值。